[senior citizen]

Tropical Storm Andrea has formed in the Gulf of Mexico, becoming the season's first named storm, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Andrea is expected to whack Florida's Panhandle late Thursday, bringing with it a torrent of rain across Central Florida — a reminder to residents it's that time of year.

Hurricane forecasters issued advisories Wednesday evening showing Andrea's center is expected to move quickly across the state in a northeasterly path, bypassing most of Central Florida.

Still, the area can expect up to 8 inches of rain — with the possibility of isolated tornadoes — by the time the storm is expected to clear the state Friday.

The National Weather Service in Melbourne issued a flood watch for Central Florida after forecast models showed that intense downpours — of 3 to 6 inches — are expected.

Central Florida emergency managers say they are anticipating a lot of water — but no deluge — and the storm presents an opportunity for people to brush up on their preparedness plans for hurricane season.

All week, a continuous convergence of clouds over the region has dampened but not saturated the ground, limiting the degree of the flooding in low-lying areas and near local lakes, forecasters said.

"This isn't going to be a Tropical Storm Debby where it lingers for an extended period of time," said Lake County disaster-assistance specialist Spencer Kostus. "We are expecting it to move through the Panhandle and be out to the East in a rather rapid period of time."

Nevertheless officials in Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties are getting ahead of the rainfall.
Orlando officials say city workers routinely monitor the levels of Orlando's many lakes, particularly those around downtown that are landlocked and not connected to a larger drainage basin that could more easily handle heavy rains.

Though some lakes in the city have outfalls that connect them to other nearby lakes, others have drainage wells that essentially act as overflow drains. The city can lower the level of lakes by allowing water to flow into deep wells, discharging water into the upper Floridan Aquifer.

"If we lower the lakes ahead of time, we have storage available if we get a lot of rain for that water level to come up without causing any problems," City Engineer Jim Hunt said.

Orlando is lowering levels at several lakes, including Lake Eola, Lake Cherokee, Lake Davis and Lake Greenwood. But adjusting lake levels isn't out of the ordinary.

"We keep an eye on the weather, and if we have a heavy tropical wave or a hurricane bearing down on us, then we try to lower the risk," Hunt said.

Orange County's Keith Kotch said officials are watching Lake Mary Jane and Lake Hart in the southeast corner of the county closely to draw water levels down if they get close to breaching their banks.

But officials with the St. Johns and South Florida water-management districts said reservoir levels are low enough to contain the predicted influx of rainwater runoff during the storm.

In Osceola County, "we don't expect any circumstances other than nuisance flooding where the water will be standing on the roadways and create ponds," said Operations Manager Richard Halquist.

Seminole County's Alan Harris said Wednesday that crews were removing debris from storm drains and culverts to minimize urban flooding and ponding, while mosquito-control crews have ramped up their work.
Emergency managers caution that residents have to do their part before more rain starts falling.

"It's that time of year," Kotch said. "If we get struck by something that would disrupt normal services, its important people have enough supplies for at least three to five days to take care of themselves."
The National Weather Service and every Central Florida county have a severe-weather text or email-alert system residents can register for through their local-government websites. A weather radio is also an important asset to any family's emergency kit.

The periodic updates that come over radio frequencies will be crucial to homeowners in the path of rotating storms that can quickly turn into tornadoes with the coming system.

"You don't see them. They hit and go back into the cloud," Kotch said, describing the behavior of typical "rain-wrapped" Florida tornadoes. "They are short-lived, but it's enough to do damage."
Andrea will also produce frequent lightning, gusty winds and high surf at the coast. Isolated rain showers will become increasingly heavy Thursday and intensify into the evening hours. The flood watch is in effect until early Friday.

"We want to make sure everyone is ready to go," Kostus said.
arehernandez@tribune.com or 407-420-5471 or on Twitter @ahernandez_OS
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